Valley residents have many reasons to visit Tempe Beach Park, but soon they will have one more.
The city will soon break ground on a new project that will upgrade a “shade armada” — a canopy structure that provides relief from the sun — at a popular meeting spot at Tempe Beach Park.
APS Energy Services is organizing the project, and Tempe Beach Park is one of four sites throughout the Valley that have been selected, said Tempe spokeswoman Amanda Nelson.
“This structure will replace the old one and will provide shade,” she said. “It will also have solar panels on the top that will generate solar power.”
The power generated by solar panels will provide energy to different parts of the park, including various lights.
APS chose Tempe Beach Park because of its many visitors, Nelson said.
The project is currently going through the design review process, and the anticipated completion date is Earth Day on April 22, Nelson said.
Seventy-year-old Valley resident Concetta Parmentier said she will definitely be checking out the new solar panels.
“Armadas are really useful,” she said. “It’s really good; it keeps your skin out of the sun and safe.”
Sustainability professor Harvey Bryan is pleased to see that Tempe is showing residents the creative possibilities of solar energy. But he said it’s just a small example of what can be done.
“I think it’s a very small application,” he said. “It’s almost like an artistic activity in a way.”
Harvey, who has a passion for developing renewable energy, is currently working alongside other ASU faculty and students to develop algae-based solar energy.
“We have really interesting projects going on,” he said. “We are making algae jet fuel for the Air Force.”
Algae-based jet fuel is currently being developed at the Polytechnic campus, and planes have already successfully flown using the new source of energy, Bryan said.
“I produce it in my pool,” said Bryan jokingly. “I’ve been spending 10 years trying to kill it and now I understand you can make fuel out of it.”
Bryan said he predicts that within two years ASU will be well known nationally and internationally as the hub for serious research in renewable energy.
“We’re not just doing it in the labs,” Bryan said. “We’re putting it on our buildings and actually lighting our buildings with it. That’s the difference.”
Bryan commends Tempe for bringing solar energy awareness to its visitors. However, he said what ASU has been doing on its large buildings is substantially more significant.
“That’s what we did five years ago,” he said.
Reach the reporter at ktenagli@asu.edu
